[Extract from: "Learning: The Treasure Within. UNESCO report on Education for the 21st Century"]

In its goal to bring people closer together, education has to do more than to encourage people to adopt the common values of their past. Education must also be able to provide an answer to why and for what we live together. The task of education is to give everyone the opportunity to play an active role in shaping the future of society.

To this end, every education system is explicitly and implicitly tasked with preparing everyone for this role in society. Given the complex nature of our modern societies, participating in a joint venture means more than a purely political approach. Indeed, every member of society should demonstrate personal responsibility for others during their daily lives: while at work, while carrying out cultural activities, in clubs and as consumers. By educating children about their rights and responsibilities and by developing their social skills through teamwork, schools play a major part in preparing people for this role.

This understanding of schooling, that is, that it is responsible for preparing children for an active role in the life of society, has become more and more accepted by an increasing number of people right across the world as democracy has spread. There are several levels at which action can be taken and these should be a complementary part of a modern democracy.

One of the fundamental objectives is to practice the roles that reflect the behavior demanded by society in general. This task is the responsibility of a basic education in the shape of 'political alphabetization-based' social studies. Tolerance, however, cannot be taught as part of an isolated subject among many others. The aim is not to teach moral principles as rigid rules, in an indoctrination-like way, but to introduce democratic practices into the school. Drawing on practical examples, the aim is for pupils to learn and understand their rights and responsibilities and how their own freedom is limited by the rights and freedoms of others. Teaching democratic understanding should be supported by practical work that has already been tried out, such as drawing up the school rules, setting up a school parliament, role playing, which demonstrates how democratic institutions work, school magazines and practicing the resolution of conflicts in a non-violent manner. Given that teaching and understanding democracy cannot be restricted to the period in which children receive formal education, it is also essential for families and other members of society to be integrated into the process.

Social studies and political education are complicated subjects for pupils, asking them to adopt value-based behavior, to acquire knowledge and to participate in public life. This means that lessons cannot be considered neutral from an ideological point of view; the aim is to challenge the conscience of pupils. To develop and strengthen an independent conscience, children's education and learning must be aimed at encouraging the ability to look critically at a situation as a prerequisite of free thinking and independent action. When pupils become citizens, education will become a constant companion along a difficult path. Here they will have to reconcile their ability to exercise individual rights based on freedom with duty and responsibility for others in their society. Indeed, it is for this reason that education and upbringing should aim to improve and sharpen a child's ability to judge and draw its own conclusions. This, in turn, creates a problem in that it's important to find a balance between individual freedom and authority, which, of course, is an intrinsic part of all teaching. This conflict underlines the teacher's role and the importance of promoting a child's ability to reach his/her own independent opinion, an indispensable part of participating in public life.

If the objective really is to create a synergetic relationship between education and democracy, it is important for everyone to practice exercising their rights and carrying out their responsibilities. In addition to this, life-long learning should help in creating an active community. A community of this kind could form a link between individuals and a distant political authority. This would enable everyone to take their share of responsibility in the community and make it possible for real solidarity to be achieved. It is, therefore, important that education and learning become a life-long experience and a cornerstone of civic society and a living democracy. Indeed, the education and upbringing process can only be considered democratic when all of the components associated it contribute to a responsible society based on reciprocal help; a society that secures the fundamental rights of all.

[Learning: The Treasure Within. UNESCO report for Education for the 21st Century, published by the German UNESCO Commission. Neuwied; Kriftel; Berlin: Luchterhand, 1997, p. 50-52]

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